


Rain

by madnessiseverything



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Lots of rain, OT3, Pre-OT3, Theory on Ezekiel's past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-19 02:09:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7340344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madnessiseverything/pseuds/madnessiseverything
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ezekiel despised rain. He hated it. Whenever the skies turned grey and the clouds prepared to open up and soak the world, Ezekiel felt nothing but cold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rain

**Author's Note:**

> So this idea came out of nowhere when it was pouring down and I was stuck waiting for the bus. I was freezing but full of happiness. 
> 
> Huge thanks to [Rachel](http://battlships.tumblr.com) and [Summer](http://fangirlandtheories.tumblr.com) for beta-ing. Go check them and their writing out!

Ezekiel despised rain. He hated it. Whenever the skies turned grey and the clouds prepared to open up and soak the world, Ezekiel felt nothing but cold.

 

Rain meant soaked, freezing nights spent on the street without food to get him through. It meant people cooping up inside their houses and no wallets to swipe off of undeserving business men gallavanting about. It meant misery, hunger, loneliness that he felt deep within his bones and sickness that he couldn’t escape. It meant fighting against icy water as he tried to find shelter, anything to curl up under to have a dry night.

 

Rain meant Ezekiel would struggle for days after the storms had moved on. He hated rain. 

 

He remembered the freezing winter rain one night, where his clothes had been soaked through within seconds, where the cans of food in his hide out were gone and his shelter compromised. He remembered running around, hiding out under small roofs while trying to find something to eat without getting caught. He remembered the fear he felt when he had noticed a man in a suit hurrying through the rain. 

 

Ezekiel Jones refused to feel as scared and hopeless as he had felt during that stage of his life. 

 

XXX

 

The first time he witnessed rain as a Librarian, he felt uncertainty creep up. The excitement of working at the Library and the meaning behind the weather - bloody dragons for crying out loud - provided enough of a distraction to him. 

 

But now, many missions later, he was sitting in a bar, waiting out the rain while Baird and Cassandra were leaning over a table and quietly discussing possible theories as to what was messing with the town’s people. Stone was at the bar, ordering drinks and chatting to the bartender. His laugh made Ezekiel flinch as he watched the rain smash against the windows. He couldn’t understand how Stone could be so carefree and relaxed. Every one of Ezekiel’s cells was vibrating and he felt restless. His fingers drummed against his elbow where he had crossed his arms over his chest. His back was hunched and he knew he looked like he was trying to curl up, like he was hiding. He didn’t dare to straighten up, though. Rain meant cold; rain meant hunger. 

 

He knew he didn’t have to react this way anymore, that he had a place to call home and enough food. But he couldn’t get himself to relax as he followed the water’s path down the window panes. They drew lines along the wet glass, other drops joining in on their crusade to the bottom of the window.

 

Someone once mentioned to him that they found the sound of rain soothing when it would hit a roof. He heard people compare the sound to a lullaby. All it did to Ezekiel as it drummed on the roof of the bar was make him shake his leg anxiously. His eyes flicked between the girls and Stone, who seemed to move back towards them with bottles in his hands.

 

Ezekiel shifted in his chair and started fiddling with his hoodie string, the memory of rain filled nights weighting him down. The bar was heated well and yet he could feel the familiar cold settling into his bones. 

 

A beer bottle appeared in his field of vision, droplets of condensation running down the brown glass in a recreation of the rain sliding down the window next to Ezekiel. He was too close to the rain, but he didn’t dare to move away and alert the team of his distress. Ezekiel Jones didn’t show weakness. 

 

“You’re looking sour,” Stone said and Ezekiel barely kept himself from flinching at the closeness of his voice. He looked up and found the art historian with his eyes. Stone had his arms crossed on the table top and his head tilted. The image of a curious dog appeared in Ezekiel’s mind. He flashed him a grin, the motion based upon nothing but sheer muscle memory from years of pretending, and grabbed the beer bottle. His fingers wiped away the sliding drops as he shrugged at Stone.

 

“Must be the serious mood here. It’s suffocating.” He took a swig of the beer and leaned back, forcing himself to uncurl. His free hand was balled on his knee, hidden away under the table. The feeling of his fingernails digging into his palm grounded him. 

 

Stone rolled his eyes and looked over to Cassandra and Baird, who were now leaned back a bit to include the two men into their conversation. Ezekiel rubbed his thumb over the bottle neck, the restlessness inside of him trying to find a release. His eyes traced the path Cassandra drew with her hand as she pushed her hair back.

 

“We’re not sure, but Jenkins’ pointers make this seem like it’s fae magic,” Cassandra said, her hands moving over the map on the table. Ezekiel’s eyes moved over the mapped area quickly, before they moved up to watch the rain again. He needed to see that he wasn’t out there, hiding from ghosts only he could understand. He felt the urge to follow each drop of rain, to follow each path down the glass, and his balled fist shook against his thigh. He loathed the feelings stirring inside of him, a scared and helpless child moving within his thoughts. He hated how he could feel the frantic heartbeat that used to be his each time the sky went grey.

 

“Jones.” Ezekiel whipped his head away from the window and found his team looking at him, Stone with raised eyebrows and Eve with resignation clear on her face. Cassandra looked worried, but Ezekiel brushed it off. “Did you not listen?” 

 

He shrugged his shoulders and put the beer to his lips. He had an image to keep up after all. “I’m sure it was fascinating, very strategic, Baird.” 

 

The others sighed and Baird recounted that they would talk to the locals tomorrow. The rain would keep everyone inside, she explained. Ezekiel almost laughed at that but kept quiet, making well-timed quips instead. Then they got up and left for the Annex through the broken door of the last toilet stall. Ezekiel was just glad that they no longer heard rain. 

 

His hands uncurled in his pockets and he relaxed slowly. A smile settled on his lips as he made himself comfortable in a chair, his phone already in his hand and research about the faes Jenkins had mentioned loading.

 

Stone sneezed as he blew dust off of a book he had pulled from a shelf and Cassandra was scribbling into her baby blue notebook. 

 

Ezekiel put his feet against the edge of the table and balanced the chair on two legs. As long as there was no more rain, he was happy. 

 

XXX 

 

The first time Ezekiel witnessed Cassandra and Jake dancing was when they were caught unaware by a summer shower as they were scoping the area for their newest mission.

Ezekiel swore, digging his fingernails into his palm. He should have noticed the clouds, he should have stayed indoors. The suffocating cold spread. 

 

A shriek of obvious joy made him flinch and whirl around. Cassandra was standing in the field, her arms spread and head thrown back as she laughed. 

 

Jake was standing next to her, a wide smile on his face as he watched the redhead giggle and shake her head. 

 

“I love summer rain,” Cassandra said and slowly rotated, her dress clinging to her frame as the rain slowly seeped into the yellow material.

 

Ezekiel felt dumbfounded. He pressed back against the tree trunk behind him and shoved his shaking hands into his jeans pockets. He should know to check the weather for the places they are sent to by now, he should have checked. His t-shirt stuck to him. It wasn’t cold, he knew that, but his heart still sped up. His eyes followed Jake, who moved towards Cassandra. He should get the two of them out of the rain. 

 

“Guys, we, uh, we should head back,” he said and nodded his head to the small cabin the backdoor was currently anchored to. His shoulders were tense. 

 

“We can stay for a few minutes,” Jake said absentmindedly, eyes closed. 

 

“What are you doing?” Ezekiel asked, incredulous. “Are you meditating?” He couldn’t understand the relaxed expression on Jake’s face.

 

“Rain feels like some form of cleansing, don’t you think?” Jake answered without opening his eyes. Cassandra nodded vigorously and Ezekiel wanted nothing more than to be back at the dry and safe Annex. 

 

“Bloody hell,” he mumbled and pushed away from the tree trunk. “I’m leaving.” 

 

Cassandra moved suddenly and grabbed onto Jake. The motion didn’t deter Ezekiel, but as Cassandra tugged on Jake until the art historian opened his eyes he slowed his footsteps, intrigued what the bubbly girl was up to now. 

 

The rain wasn’t strong, but it seeped into every fiber of his being and he felt sticky, like the blood that was washed away by rain like this not too long ago. He swallowed. 

 

Cassandra started running in a circle, dragging Jake with her. Jake let out a confused laugh. “Cassie, what are you doing?” 

 

“Dance with me, Jacob,” Cassandra answered so quietly that Ezekiel barely caught it. He stopped entirely. How could someone want to  _ dance  _ in the rain? He never understood that particular clichè. 

 

But Jake nodded and Ezekiel quickly found himself under the tree again, watching the two people he had unwillingly let into the space behind his ribs as they moved in circles. Their motions became quicker and soon they were spinning in the rain, Jake twirling Cassandra around as they laughed. 

 

Ezekiel’s heart fluttered. The pure joy his friends expressed made the cold receed ever so slightly. Cassandra was giggling again, the sound making Ezekiel’s fists uncurl. Jake was grinning brightly, the rai plastering his plaid shirt to his body. 

 

Ezekiel hated rain. But as he watched Cassandra and Jake twirl around, happiness that even the scared child in his mind couldn’t ignore hovered in the air. 

 

So maybe when he finally got his friends to agree to go back, when he told them he wouldn’t play nurse if they got sick, maybe his hands were relaxed and the cold was subsiding. Maybe his hands lingered a few seconds longer when he shoved at Jake later, maybe they brushed wet hair away from Cassandra’s eyes. 

 

He hated rain, but maybe he could get used to it not always being bad. 

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews always brighten my day and fill up my motivation bank. 
> 
> Come talk to me on [tumblr](http://madnessiseverything.tumblr.com) about these nerds.


End file.
